Various stabilizers and vibration dampeners have been developed to both positionally stabilize a bow and to absorb the shock occurring in the bow when an arrow is discharged from an archery bow. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,441 discloses an archery bow stabilizer having an isolated shock cushion mounting base which provides ready attachment to and removal from the archery bow. As disclosed by the '441 patent, a resilient compressible elastomeric bushing in the stabilizer base provides a captive support for attaching to the bow a stabilizer arm which carries a weight at its opposite end. One disadvantage is that, because of the location of that resilient coupling between the stabilizer arm and the bow riser, the bow can twist or wriggle in the archer's hand relative to the weight which tends to remain stationary.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,522 discloses a complicated device consisting of five pivotally-connected sections for resiliently mounting a pair of stabilizer rods for universal angular adjustment on a bow. The device has a central member fixed to the bow anda cylindrical portion projecting from each end, a pair of intermediate members, and a pair of outer-end member, each of the outer-end members having means at one end for attachment of a stabilizer rod. The '522 patent has a disadvantage because it requires a complicated device to properly adjust the stabilizer and the archery box. Also, that device places resilient flexure mounts for the stabilizer rods at the bow-ends of the stabilizer rods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,602 discloses a rod that is threaded at one end into a bow riser to extend forwardly therefrom. An inertia sleeve is slidableon the rod and is biased toward the bow by a stiff spring. The inertia sleeve moves forward against the force of a compression spring when the bowstring is released. The sleeve is then snapped back by spring force toward the bow to apply to the bow an impact which counteracts the tendency of the bow to jump from the archer's hand upon release of the bowstring. A balance weight is fixed to the end of the rod forwardly from the bow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,606 discloses a distributed mass in an inertial archery bow stabilizes and vibration damper which, in use, is rigidly affixed to a bow riser. The '606 patent employs an internal flow-limiting structure and a high-density fluid initial mass to achieve stabilization against forward thrust of the bow. Such stabilization is provided by the relatively large mass of the high-density fluid retained within the tubular rigid body which encloses the stabilizing subassembly. Vibration damping is achieved by movement of fluid through and around the flow-limiting structure within the body. The device also provides a measure of static balance to the bow as it is held in a drawn state, but it does not meaningfully address the problem of the tendency of the bow to twist in the user's hand upon release of the drawn bowstring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,327 discloses an archery bow stabilizer which includes a pair of annular weights which are carried in normally aligned manner at one end of a stabilizer rod which is rigidly affixable to a bow riser at its other end. The weights are connected to each other and to the rod by resilient elastomeric elements disposed within the annular weights. The weights can move out of alignment with each other, and out of alignment with the rod, against the bias of the resilient elements, when the bow riser experiences torque upon release of the bow from a drawn condition. The device provides a measure of torque stabilization to the bow. The device is heavy, and such additional weights as may be needed can be affixed to the forward end of the forwardmost annular weight. Because of the mass of the device, it is difficult to use it effectively in applications which call for customization to the requirements of a range of bows of different kinds and to the needs of a range of archers.
It is desirable to have a bow stabilizer which allows weights of different size to move relatively freely in response to torquing of a bow on an end of a stabilizer arm which has its other end rigidly connected to the bow riser. It is also desirable that the stabilizer arm not vibrate during times when the stabilizer responds to dynamic conditions in the bow. Such a stabilizer causes less hand shock and better arrow flight, resulting in the consistent accuracy desired by archers. It is also desirable to have a device which provides for ready variability of the stabilizer weights so that the weight used in a particular stabilizing situation can be customized to the archer and to the bow.